Australian Watchdog Says Apple & Google’s App Stores Dominance Is Impacting Consumers

Australia’s competition watchdog announced on Wednesday, April 28, that regulation may be required to address the significant market power app stores owned by Alphabet’s Google and Apple have if they do not take steps to assuage concerns.

The global dominance of Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store has been criticized by some app makers for mandatory revenue sharing payments and strict inclusive rules by both companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in a digital platforms services inquiry interim report, stated app developers should be allowed to provide customers with alternative payment options and data collected by Google and Apple should be kept separate from their other operations.

The ACCC also called for consumers to be allowed to change or remove pre-installed or default apps.

“We have identified a number of areas where action is required and have put forward potential measures to address areas of particular concern,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.

“There is a window of opportunity for Apple and Google themselves to take steps to improve outcomes for app developers and consumers.”

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